Backtalk: Times readers sound off on Mariners, Seahawks and the Olympics

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Mariners

Here’s a novel way to shorten games

The only thing within the game itself that has been increasing game length in the last 50 years is the number of pitching changes. Good or bad, that’s baseball evolution. But the most obvious cause? Longer and longer commercial breaks between innings. Have you heard Commissioner Manfred bemoan that trend?

Rob Bowman, Seattle

Felix or Paxton?

What a treat for us fans to read the debate between Larry Stone and Matt Calkins about which pitcher, Felix or Paxton, should start on opening day.

Paxton does currently have the best “stuff,” but Felix is the only one to show any durability over an entire season in his career. A career which he can hopefully extend. Just for the record, Jamie Moyer, the only Mariner to win 20 games twice, did so at age 38 and 40. Don’t write Felix off just yet.

Seahawks

Need another Alexander, Lynch

Say what you will about Shaun Alexander, he was a franchise running back for eight seasons. He led the team to a Super Bowl and was the NFL MVP in 2005. Likewise, Marshawn Lynch carried the mantle from 2010-15 and helped propel the Seahawks to consecutive Super Bowls.

An excellent running back will take the defensive pressure off Russell Wilson and allow him more time to execute. Please, Seahawks, just draft or sign a bunch of running backs. Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while!

Tim Joslin Sr. (season ticket holder since 1975)

Olympics

Mahre twins set a great example

The Mahre twins (“Success never stopped for Washington’s Mahre brothers after 1984 Olympic skiing triumph”) embody the original purpose of the Olympics — amateurs competing for the love of the sport, people who go back to their normal lives after the Olympics are over.

And it crystallized for me what I don’t like about today’s Olympics — the crass commercialism, the focus on individual athletes over the sport, the obsession with image, and money, and self.

Jeff Brown, Bainbridge Island

Hockey

Pricey plan

I was planning on buying season tickets for Seattle’s next NHL team right up until I got my 2018 property-tax bill.

Scott Kuehner, Seattle

Send us your backtalk:

Please limit letters to 125 words or less. They are subject to editing and become the property of The Times. Mail to: Backtalk, Seattle Times Sports, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111. Email to: sports@seattletimes.com